Why has the speed limit changed in the last 100 years?

Answer 1

The Speed Limit in the last CenturyIt changed because vehicles are faster and road construction has improved. 1 ) Once the Locomotive Act 1865, which restricted the speed of vehicles to 4mph in open country and 2mph in towns, was repealed in the 1870s, there were no speed limits in the UK until the 1930s,

Mass produced cars became available from the early 1900s but were mostly not capable of high speeds. For example, the first Vauxhall produced in 1903 has a 6HP engine and was only capable of 20 mph. As cars became faster and therefore more dangerous, especially around towns and villages, a restriction on the top speed was required.

The Road Traffic Act in 1930 introduced the first Highway Code and speed restrictions came into force in 1934 when a 30mph limit was brought in for roads considered to be in 'built-up' areas. This particular limit is still used today. Other roads still had no limits.

In 1965, a 70mph restriction for all roads, which included highways and motorways was introduced. Again this limit was for safety, as cars became faster and, also the number of fatalities from car accidents increased accordingly.

New speed limits to curb fuel use were introduced during the fuel crisis in 1974 (petrol had gone up to about 50p per gallon (about 10p per litre). The speed limits on motorways remained at 70mph but on dual carriageways they were reduced to 60mph and on all other roads 50mph.

These temporary limits were removed in 1977 but the speed limit for cars and motorbikes on motorways and dual carriageways was set at 70mph with single carriageways carrying a 60mph limit. These limits are still in force today. The new national speed limit was justified by the reduction in accidents during the temporary reduction to conserve fuel.

Another speed limit introduced for safety in recent years to try and reduce injuries to pedestrians, especially children, was a 20mph limit introduced in 1999 This limit can be set by local councils and is mainly used in urban areas, such as residential roads (particularly narrow ones), town centres and around schools and nurseries. The reasons are obvious - where there is a high concentration of pedestrians, it makes sense to keep the limits slower to avoid collisions and accidents.

Sometimes, temporary speed restrictions are put in place to encourage safer driving during road repairs with the intention of making the area safer and protect the work force. When on Motorways and faster roads, a 50mph restriction is often imposed.

Although the National speed limit hasn't increased since it was introduced in the 1960s, cars have generally become safer with improved visibility, lighting, tyre technology, suspension, braking, steering, etc. There are many demands from motorists' organisations to increase the speed limits, especially on motorways.

Answer 2

It has changed for many reasons, in the 's there was many cars but so little accitens, so the speed limit was 60mph +. Then, more cars were designed, soon there was more accitens. So in the 60's they lowed it to 40mph. After a while it went down but in the 90's, many problems were drink driving , and then the website THINK soon opened. Posters, leaftlets and banners because THINK, kill your speed! The speed limit stopped at 40mph until now, 2008. 2007 was said to be the worst year for the car accitens, but, many died from the speed limit, so now, 2008, the speed limit is 30mph, the slowest you can get on a motorway!

Answer 3

because cars have become more powerful and because there have been too many accidents

Answer 4

Speed limits have increased over the last ten years across the nation. Most places it is 65-70 MPH.